Global Health News Roundup

by ihsection, posted in News

Programs
From a heavy reliance on female sterilization as its primary mode of contraception, this year, the Indian government will take a major step toward modernizing that system and introducing injectable contraceptives free of charge in government facilities.

A study published by Johns Hopkins University in the latest issue of Health Affairs on the economic return of vaccination in low- and middle-income countries has concluded that there is a $16 return for every dollar invested in childhood immunization programs in these countries.

Research
A collaborative NIH-funded project aims to bring rapid influenza diagnostic equipment to rural areas in Mongolia where health professionals had to previously send samples to the national capitol and wait up to two weeks for the results.

Diseases & Disasters
Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) is warning that a poor water and sanitation situation in northwest Kenya is creating ideal conditions for a future spike in cholera cases.

Technology
Northwestern University Center for Innovation in Global Health Technologies (CIGHT) has been working on a device that prevents the transfer of the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) from the mother to the nursing baby by developing a device that checks the temperature of the breast milk. The device is undergoing further testing at the University of Cape Town.

Environmental Health
The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization has warned that rural livelihood and food security are being impacted by the widespread overuse of antibiotics and other antimicrobial agents. They have said that combating this would require coordinated global efforts.

Global Health News Round-Up

by ihsection, posted in APHA IH Section

The Communications Committee is working to revive the global health news round-up, which has been a popular feature in the past. Stay tuned!

WHO has released its latest situation report on Zika virus. The Director-General has announced that the cluster of microcephaly and other neurologic disorders in Brazil is a Public Health Emergency of International Concern. Experts also agreed that there is an urgent need for coordinated international efforts to understand the relationship between Zika virus and such neurologic disorders.

Nearly 25% of the South Sudanese population face food insecurity and in need of food assistance. This is particularly worrisome because this increase in hunger has occurred during the post-harvest season, a time when the country has traditionally been food secure.

A recent article in Health Affairs assessed the return on investment from childhood immunization programs to prevent diseases associated with 10 antigens in low- and middle- income countries. Their study shows that net gains were greater than costs across all 10 antigens.

Dr. Paul Farmer and 16 others who comprise the Commission on a Global Health Risk Framework for the Future have said in their 130-page report that pandemics are inevitable and that a key solution is investing in the countries’ health systems.

An analysis of the data from the Global Burden of Disease 2013 Study published in JAMA Pediatrics showed that “road injuries were the leading cause of death among adolescents globally.” Road traffic injuries killed nearly 115,000 young people, compared with ~76,000 deaths due to HIV/AIDS.

Zika virus: An emerging threat

by ihsection, posted in APHA IH Section

by Abbhirami Rajagopal

Zika virus was originally reported in 1952 in the Transactions of Royal Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene. The original study involved placing a Rhesus monkey in a cage in the ZIka forest in Uganda. The monkey subsequently developed a fever and the researchers were identified a transmissible agent from its serum, and called it the ZIka virus. The virus belongs to the Flaviviridae virus family, related to dengue, yellow fever and West Nile virus, and it is transmitted by the day-time active mosquitoes, such as those of the genus Aedes.

CDC estimates that “about 1 in 5 people infected with Zika will get sick and for those who get sick, the illness is usually mild. The most common symptoms of Zika virus disease are fever, rash, joint pain, or conjunctivitis (red eyes). Symptoms typically begin 2 to 7 days after being bitten by an infected mosquito.”

Currently, the virus has spread to nearly 23 countries, with countries like Colombia reporting that they have about 20,000 confirmed cases that include ~2000 pregnant women. Pregnant women are the focus of this epidemic, as recent studies showed a link between Zika virus infection and microcephaly, a devastating birth defect that results in smaller brain size. CDC has issued travel warnings for nearly 25 countries, and several South American countries are strongly urging women to not get pregnant.

WHO recently declared Zika virus a global health emergency with the potential for infecting nearly 4 million people. In the US there have been 36 cases including 4 pregnant women and in Houston, where I live and work, thus far seven cases have been reported. All cases in the US are travel-related and not due to local transmission.

There is real concern at the alarming rise in the number of infected individuals. The other potential cause for worry might be the summer Olympics in Rio De Janeiro in a few months. Brazil has stepped up its surveillance program and the hope is that the cooler, drier climate will control the mosquito population.

President Obama has called on U.S. health officials and scientists to examine the link with microcephaly and rapid development and testing of vaccines for Zika virus.

While we wait, protect yourself from mosquito bites and if you are traveling make sure to check the CDC ZIka Virus page.

APHA (@PublicHealth) late-breaker policy on HIV testing for immigrants posted

by Jessica, posted in APHA IH Section

Note: This was cross-posted to my own blog.

As I mentioned in my recap of the 2015 APHA Annual Meeting, I authored a late-breaker policy, “Opposition to Policies Requiring a Negative HIV Test as a Condition of Employment for Foreign Nationals,” that was put forth by the IH Section and passed by the Governing Council with overwhelming support. That policy has now been finalized and posted to APHA’s Policy Statement Database. You can read the full text of the policy here.

According to APHA Joint Policy Committee (JPC) guidelines,

Approved late-breaker policy statements will be considered valid, but interim for one year. Late-breaker policy statement authors will need to revise, update, and resubmit their policy statements to the standard proposed policy statement review process…Late-breaker policy statements will be subject to full review and reaffirmation in the next annual policy development cycle. If the late-breaker is not resubmitted, it will expire after one year.

I am working with the Section’s Policy/Advocacy Committee to develop a standard policy proposal as a follow-up to the late-breaker, which will be submitted for consideration at this year’s Annual Meeting in Denver.

Big losses for Big Tobacco

by ihsection, posted in Trade and Health

By Abbhirami Rajagopal

Six million people die annually as a result of tobacco. Many governments have adopted the WHO framework for tobacco control and have since taken measures (policy changes, cessation programs, etc.) to reduce mortalities and morbidities that occur due to tobacco. Not surprisingly, big tobacco companies like Philip Morris International have pushed back against countries that have enacted stringent packaging laws.

In a much-awaited decision, Australia won an international legal battle to uphold its tobacco policies that include the plain packaging laws. Australia has enacted some of the toughest measures to reduce the harm caused by tobacco and plain packaging laws are among them. These laws are intended to prevent the tobacco companies from displaying their distinctive designs, colors or even their brand logos (companies can include their names and logos, but they cannot have flashy, enticing packaging). Instead, the companies would be required to use olive-green packs with health warnings and graphic color images that would cover nearly 75% of the front of the packs. The Plain Packaging Act passed by the Australian parliament became law in 2011 and, shortly thereafter, Hong Kong-based PMI sought legal action against Australia citing that, by stripping logos off the packs, these stringent laws violated the bilateral investment treaty between Australia and Hong Kong, thereby severely diminishing their brand value.

This is not the first time Philip Morris has dragged governments into legal battles over stricter anti-smoking and tobacco laws.

While global rate of lung cancer mortality was increasing between 1990 and 2013, owing to stricter anti-tobacco measures, Uruguay saw a 15% reduction in lung cancer mortality. PMI, a company whose revenues were nearly $80 billion in 2013, sued Uruguay, a small country of 3 million with a GDP of about $56 billion, in 2013. The lawsuit was brought to the International Center for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) in 2010 and the company is seeking $25 million in damages from Uruguay, once again, citing violation of bilateral investment treaty between Uruguay and Switzerland. The ICSID is expected to settle this case by arbitration.

The upholding of the anti-tobacco laws in Australia will hopefully set a precedent and allow countries to move forward with legitimate public health actions to curb the global tobacco epidemic without interference from tobacco companies.